Wednesday, June 13, 2018

AT&T Returns to AFI DOCS as Presenting Sponsor

The American Film Institute (AFI) has announced the AFI DOCS 2018 festival sponsors - with AT&T returning this year as Presenting Sponsor, which represents the top level of support.
Support for the festival comes from a wide range of major companies, cultural institutions, art associations and philanthropists. The 16th edition of AFI DOCS will run June 13-17, 2018, in Washington, DC, and Silver Spring, MD.

"AT&T's dedication to AFI DOCS plays a crucial role in the festival providing a platform for filmmakers to share remarkable subjects and stories," said Michael Lumpkin, Director, AFI Festivals. "We are grateful to all of our sponsors for their commitment to the festival and their continued support of documentary filmmaking."

AT&T will host the Opening Night Screening of the world premiere of PERSONAL STATEMENT at the Newseum. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), the official public media sponsor, and VIZIO, the official home theater sponsor of AFI, return as Official Sponsors of the festival. CPB will underwrite public media programming at the AFI DOCS Forum. VIZIO will also generously outfit the AFI DOCS Festival Hub with the company's latest home theater equipment and technology.

Screen Sponsors are Audi, Discovery Communications, HBO, Netflix and Showtime Documentary Films. Showtime Documentary Films will once again host the Filmmaker and Industry Welcome Reception. Audi, headquartered in the DC metro area, will provide vehicles for filmmaker transportation to and from official venues for screenings and special events.

The DC Office of Cable Television, Film, Music and Entertainment; IMDbPro; and Maryland Film Office return this year as Major Sponsors, joined by 202Creates and Curiosity Stream.

The Contributing Sponsor is International Documentary Association.

This year's Supporting Sponsors are Downtown Silver Spring and the Greater Silver Spring Chamber of Commerce.

Cultural and Community Sponsors are the Danish Film Institute, DC Filmmakers, Docs in Progress, Embassy of Australia, Producers Guild of America, TIVA-DC, The Video Consortium and Women in Film & Video.

This year's Official Hotels are The George and Hotel Monaco.

Generous individual support comes from Official Festival Underwriters Nancy Blachman and David desJardins, Grace Guggenheim and Rachel and John King.

In addition to supporting AFI DOCS film programming and festival events, sponsors provide services to filmmakers and festival attendees throughout the week. Participation ranges from sponsoring specific film screenings and receptions to outfitting venues with technology infrastructure and creating event spaces. Sponsors also participate in national and local promotion of the festival.

AFI DOCS is proud to have AT&T return as this year's Presenting Sponsor. For more information about the Impact Lab, and for passes and tickets to AFI DOCS, please visit AFI.com/afidocs.

About AFI DOCS:
AFI DOCS is the American Film Institute's annual documentary festival in Washington, DC. Presenting the year's best documentaries, AFI DOCS is the only festival in the U.S. dedicated to screenings and events that connect audiences, filmmakers and policy leaders in the heart of our nation's government. The AFI DOCS advisory board includes Ken Burns, Davis Guggenheim, Chris Hegedus, Werner Herzog, Rory Kennedy, Barbara Kopple, Spike Lee, Errol Morris, Stanley Nelson, D A Pennebaker, Agnès Varda and Frederick Wiseman. Now in its 16th year, the festival will be held June 13–17, 2018, at distinguished Washington, DC, venues, the Landmark E Street Cinema and the historic AFI Silver Theatre in Silver Spring, MD. Visit AFI.com/AFIDOCS and connect on twitter.com/AFIDOCS, facebook.com/AFIDOCS, youtube.com/AFI and instagram.com/AmericanFilmInstitute.

About the American Film Institute:
The American Film Institute was established by presidential proclamation in the White House Rose Garden, and launched its national mandate on June 5, 1967 - to preserve the heritage of the motion picture, to honor the artists and their work and to educate the next generation of storytellers. AFI's founding Trustees included Chairman Gregory Peck, Vice Chairman Sidney Poitier, Francis Ford Coppola, Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., Jack Valenti and George Stevens, Jr., as Director.

About AT&T:
AT&T is proud to be the Presenting Sponsor of the 2018 AFI DOCS. We help people connect in ways that improve lives - every day. Through DIRECTV, DIRECTV NOW and AT&T U-verse, we deliver the kind of entertainment people love to talk about. And you can watch almost anytime, anywhere. For 10 years, we've supported AFI's commitment to honor the heritage of film and the artists who make them. And through a variety of programs, we're focused on giving amateur and underrepresented filmmakers the support they need to succeed.